14 DAY TRIAL // Wi-Fi Alliance, the group that handles certification and standardization of the wireless network protocol, has released a very interesting new specification which enables devices to talk to each other directly via Wi-Fi.
This new certification, labeled Wi-Fi Direct, will be applied to devices which won't need an intermediary, like a router or any other kind of AP, to communicate.
"With portable content like photos, videos and music taking center stage in the digital consumer experience, Wi-Fi Direct devices meet an important consumer need: directly connecting devices for applications such as content sharing, synching, printing, and gaming anywhere with ease," explains the Wi-Fi Alliance.
It is hard not to notice the advantages of this approach. Wi-Fi already has a number of selling points that make it ideal for this sort of application.
Wi-Fi Direct devices will be capable of using any of the 802.11b/g/n standards so speed should not be a problem. The range of most modern Wi-Fi devices is also very good in comparison with other similar technologies.
Bluetooth is the only thing that comes close to what Wi-Fi Direct enables, but the technology is limited both in terms of speed and especially in range. What's more, it hasn't really caught on except on mobile devices.
Since smartphones today already come with Wi-Fi as do many other types of devices, from game consoles to Blu-ray players, it's easy to understand why Wi-Fi Direct would be very appealing for manufacturers.
Wi-Fi direct will support WPA2 encrypted access and will also make it easy to set up new networks through a "push-button" mechanism, again similar to the way Bluetooth works.
Wi-Fi connections normally require an access point, generally a router. So-called "ad-hoc" connections can be established between devices without the need of a router, but this mode comes with speed and range penalties.
Wi-Fi Direct promises full speed and range. The best part, though, is that most existing devices are already compatible and will only require a firmware upgrade to support Wi-Fi direct. The first certified devices will hit the stores before the holiday season, but you can expect many existing devices to be updated in the short term.